Knut Hamsun - Mysteries BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
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"Hunger" is better than food.
I love this book! So happy to see you doing a review of Hamsun.
Mysteries is my favorite book of all time. I read it once a year, every november.
Nice, I read it 5 times in succession, it's that interesting, my favorite book.
Omg….I need to read this, don’t I? I’ve never read Hamsun so I guess I’ll make this one my first.
@@nikkivenable73 I recommend starting with Hunger.
@@rancorcell nice, I read it to completion everyday
@@highiqgenius9910 I read it twice every day. Once in the morning and once in the evening
Glad you've getting into Hamsun.
Nagel can see straight through people, he knows his own fate and is powerless to stop it.
He doesn't descend into madness.
Please don't dismiss Tolstói, the "Death of Ivan Ilyich" is one of best books I've ever read. Plus, it's a short read. It's a perfect book for you to review between longer novels.
Anyway, great video. Appreciate it.
Don’t worry, everyone knows Tolstoy is the great grand daddy of litt. The novel in its current form and almost all good writers knowingly or unknowingly are a part of his legacy.
No way, I just started reading this book two days ago. Looking forward to watching the review when I'm done!
My favorite thing about your review style is that you front end these videos always with an enthusiastic overview, no matter if you end up liking or disliking it in the end. And of course, loving the philosophical reflections on what you just read. Great channel.
Thank you for reading it, I enjoy your reviews, and i feel great you read my favorite book. Reread and re-review. You got it. Though, wait at least 2 years.
I read that his novel, Hunger ,heavily influenced Henry Miller
It did, mysteries as well, there’s an interview with Miller on youtube, wherein he praises Hamsun. Hamsun and Celine seems to have influenced Miller quite a bit, and with good reason.
My first book of 2023 was Tropic of Cancer. Loved Hunger, omw to get the mysteries.
Great that you found Henry Miller, keep going with him. Hamsun is great too.
Read Pan
I was given this book by a good friend as I was heading out to Peace Corps in 1986. I read it twice in the time I was away and it proved to be an eye opener in regard to the way I experienced other humans. If you have aspirations to write or live amongst other humans, you should read this book. Hunger is in my view the birth of existentialism.
Happy new year, Cliff! Always good to see a new review. Reading Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. Hoping you check it out at some point.
I actually think he has a review on it, but I'm not sure.
@@mariocoelho9380 if he did, it was only for patrons
“Hamsun is very staunchly anti authoritarian … Which is very ironic … we’ll get to it.”
Boy, did we ever get to it. I was not expecting that turn for our pal Knut.
The sheer size of War and Peace is threatening as hell but please read Tolstoy's novella The Death of Ivan Ilych. It's brilliant and thankfully super short
Mysteries is one of my favourite novels, especially Nagel's introduction to the coastal town. There are some extreme contradictions in his character, but I suppose that is part of what Hamsun was trying to say in that he's a human being in flux at all times. He's almost like a prototype Holden Caulfield.
☕️ Damn! It’s early as hell.
Just about to dive into McCarthy’s new books today.
Great review. I’ll likely never read this Norwegian story, but I really dug the review.
1:42 Oh yes, that book cover is very beautiful. It sets the tone for the book very well.
I saw your reaction to "Sult" or "Hunger" in English, and find it very interesting to learn your reactions.
Funfact: Sigmund Freud told his students to read "Mysteries" to study the unconscious mind. If Hamsun had died in the 30s,
I have read that he was a very good friend, but a hell to be in family with.
To me, he is one of the greatest of all time, but he destroyed hes reputation by supporting Hitler in the most shameful way (although his personal meeting with Hitler ended with Hitler throwing him out). How could a man writing so beautifully as in "Pan" give his Nobel price to Goebbels? I dont get it. Hamsun was. himself a mystery.
Hello, sergeant Cliff, Could you please do a review of Jane Eyre? I really wanna know your thought on it since Bronte's narrative was influenced on James Joyce and Marcel Proust.
Brilliant! Absolutely spot on!
What one book should I really read next? Over anything else
If you have time, try reading Snow by Orhan Pamuk or maybe the White Fortress !
Charles Bukowski was also a great admirer of Hamsun.
the monty python parrot reference haha
...ja you can read Hamsun like love was no illusion - i guess that´s why Hank did like him ...( i did never say this before: i believed in "Better than Food" once, but it wasnt books...
I cant remember when was the last time I smiled for 25:13 minutes straight
How much does it cost for you to review a book? I have a total obscurity which will change your life called 'The journal of Albion Moonlight'
Have you checked the Patreon page? He probably has a price there, or how to contact him to do it.
Cultural Life of Modern America, 1889......hmmmm......
The main character comes across as a textbook example of somebody with borderline personality disorder.
I'd take Hamsun over Dostoyevsky any day. He's overlooked because he went mad himself in old age and gave his Nobel Prize to Goebbels.
Did you just casually slag off War and Peace?? The encyclopaedic source that you might find so many of the books you love have knowingly or unknowingly lifted from. Love your guts😅
absolutely love Hamsun, Hunger is one of my favorite books of all time. Mysteries was weird as shit if I remember correctly (read them all in the early 90s). Pan is also great.
What a coincidence. I’m reading his memoir, “On Overgrown Paths.”
That’s a great one
@@joejs7659 I know. I really like it.
I join those here who recommend Pan (1894). I've read it twice and would happily read it again.
Just wanted to thank you for helping me rediscover my love for reading. It's not easy staying focused on books in the modern technological era, but I'm slowly working my way back to reading every day! And thanks for all your great recommendations, recently read Hurricane Season and found it to be one of my favourite books ever. After finishing Ordinary Men, I will be reading The Passenger. Thanks again, Cliff.
I read Pan a few months ago and Hunger before it, one of my favorite authors. Pan was such a good book. About man’s inability to live off the fat of the land because it leads to alienation and the like.
a baffling conclusion
Man's original state. Great work, great writer, cheers for the thoughtful comment
You actually seemed quite inspired by this book; a very lively and sort of relaxed, but accurate, review. You say that you didn't enjoy reading much of Mysteries, but I would say you enjoyed reviewing it, the way I feel, you enjoyed reviewing more than many times before when you enjoyed reading the book on a truly "better than food" -level. Interesting.
I agree
This is an excerpt from the novel that followed Mysteries, called, Redaktør Lynge (Editor Lynge). I'm uncertain if it was ever translated into English, so I took it upon myself to translate. Hope it may be of interest to those of you that read Mysteries.
"This last year Mrs. Dagny couldn't hear about a scandal of any sort without becoming shocked. She had also had her history of irregularities. There wasn't any major sins in them, not much as a stain, she was certain of that; but they could, however, be argued to be a tiny bit sinful. Ever since her miserable relationship with that young adventurer by the name of Johan Nagel, who was an inconspicuous dwarf, that appeared suddenly into her life the previous year and confused her greatly, had instilled in her a sorrow which she kept hidden. The relationship did not end with him bowing and saying goodbye with propriety, no, that wild man jumped head first into the ocean, and thus ended his life without saying a word."
Some pages later she became enthralled with a speaker who used vivid imagery, and additionally, had the same political views as Nagel.
It's true that Tolstoy lacked humor, but some of his characters have that sense! If I were to recommend to someone to read Tolstoy I would not tell him or her to read the big books Anna Karenina and War and Peace peace. Hell no! I would tell him or her to start at the very beginning with Tolstoy's writings about his childhood. To get a sense of the genius of Tolstoy as a natural writer, I think it's important to start there. I can't read Russian, but even in English translation the prose is alive, it carries one along with it as if one has stepped into a "river of life," of people, nature, all the relations...
In my late teens I gobbled up both Hunger and Mysteries (bon appétit!). This book hits a sweet spot if you're coming of age, a little like Hesse but different, so it would be interesting to reread it now to see if it's truly better than food. Scott Walker has mentioned Hamsun in interviews.
No kidding? Huge Scott Walker fan. How interesting, thanks for that.
Hamsun's the darkest of them all. Big influence on Bukowski too. His characters are compelling because they're in a state of perpetual crisis and in constant mortal danger from themselves. Great stuff.
RIP, Scott Walker...
Hello. Can i recomend a writer from Argentina? Some critics used to think after Borges, he fit the empty space he left in his time. His name is Juan José Saer. He lived in France half of his life, but always in his writing, he told stories about his childhood town in Argentina. At the beginning one can find a prose a bit overcharged with information, but at the end you understand that this is his style.
Book to start: The witness (short story).
El entenado es uno de los libros más bellos que he leído.
@@pelodelperro totalmente. yo creo que la grandez está en el lenguaje que nos cuenta que tienen los indios. es una bella y triste obra
Do read Pan, for a more isolated character.
I am a huge Hamsun fan. I think you got i t right in most ways.
Wow I would have guessed all Hamsun would be better than food! All his early novels have irrational isolated characters, even Victoria to some extend but Growth of the Soil is different. I like Nagel and his adventures but identify more with Lt. Glahn in Pan and rank that Hamsun's best.
You do have a similar character to Lt. Glahn in Growth of the Soil, the restless wanderer Geisler (if I remember the name correctly)
The Wanderer plays on muted strings
His short stories are delightful also
Great review, loved this longer and almost conversational format. This is my favorite book of all time and one of the only ones I've reread several times, and you did a great job pointing out what it's all about. I grew up in Norway in a community very similar to the one described in Mysteries, and I find the dialogue and characters to be absolutely hilarious. It's all just so brash. Maybe the only book I laugh out loud with. The way Nagel argues or acts just to get a rise out of people just to backtrack a minute later, or keeps others conversational hostages like those scenes with Minutten at the hotel are just so delectably awkward, but also touching and existential in a way. Nagel is a very apt personification of the small-town contrarian/original type, and I'm the type of person who loves running into them at parties, watching them create chaos and befuddlement.
When I found your channel back in 2018 I maybe read a couple books a year. Since then I average ~30/per, a lot of the novels based on your recommendations. It's changed my life in a not so small way. I just wanted to say thank you for that.
That's impressive
Hamsun has always been my author.
Knut Hamsun is one of the best writers i have ever read. He is on the same level with Herman Hesse, Alfred Doblin, Herman Broch, August Strindberg, Andre Gide, Thomas Mann. True master of prose.
If you read Pan and many other works by Hamsun there a heavy Pagan undertone to it. Not even undertone sometimes, that's a more likely reason for his admiration for National Socialism.
The reason he hated the english is, couple reasons:
because they 'brought' christianity and killed the old faith
Also the industrial revolution, destroying nature, kapital etc
And then more recently you have england associated with analytic philosophy / empiricism which almost all people who consider themselves poets hate. And ofcourse if you think that this kind of philosophy leads to liberalism and if you are against that, it's another reason to hate the english
At least this is what i think his reasons where.
About Henry Miller and Knut Hamsun: ua-cam.com/video/d0MNcNe7JPM/v-deo.html
Are you of Norwegian/ Scandinavian descent? At least there's something Norwegian about your way of being and thinking in a way I find kinda hard to explain, at least I get those vibes as an Norwegian myself.
Yup part Norwegian.
Love all the booklore you throw in.
Last January I started this book with a lot of enthusiasm and I was unable to finish it. I had no idea what was the book about and couldn't care less about the caracters... It felt like a total waste of my time 😑
Maybe you could read "Growth of the Soil". I'm afraid to read a 400 page Hamsun novel lmao.but this review did land "Hunger" a spot on my TBR
it's a slow burn but worth the reward. All of his books should be read by readers regardless, but I appreciate you being the only comment to reference "...Soil"...underrated.
I would completely agree with the comment above.
I finally bought this book two days ago and I am so happy to find this book review today!
Seems like you had a similar reaction to this book that I have every time I've read it (four times now): that I really don't understand it. And I think that's why I like it so much - because it's unfathomable. Often when reading this book I felt like I was in a trance state, and according to Hamsun himself, as quoted by Robert Ferguson, large parts of it were written in a sort of trance. The book carries you along, and the frequent changes of perspective, from first to third person, is incomparably impressive. I've not read any other book where the author has such mastery of the language.
What I've found reading this book many times is that every time you read it you get something new from it. The last time I read it, a scene that seemed to me to be key was his spontaneous violin performance at the town gala, in which he stunned everyone present , essentially blowing their minds.
I suppose these days Nagel would be classified as suffering from a classic case of bipolar disorder - bipolar, with a sprinkling of Nietzsche and a tablespoon of mysticism.
I agree that at times Nagel's self-sabotaging behaviour makes you cringe, but just as you feel like giving up on him he does, or says, or thinks, something which makes you do a double-take, and the book pulls you in once again. It's a real fucking rollercoaster of a novel. It's one of my all-time favourites. I find it...otherworldly.
Thanks for the introduction to Knut Hamsun.
Agree with the review, still my favorite, didn't care for Hunger.
I loved Hunger but I struggled with this one. I recommend The Growth Of The Soil. It is a really great read. Apparently it was one of Hitler's favorites; a fact I am sorely glad I was unaware of when I read it.
Read this in French 5-6 years ago. Liked it better than Hunger.
Clifford, what happened to those videos you did in Paris, like at the cemetery (Père-Lachaise?)? You used to have more movie reviews up too. I heard about The Addiction (which has become a favorite) from you.
Thank you, this is my favorite novel. Pan is short and great also.
Why do you keep slamming Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment on completely different book reviews?
The hermit of 69th street by Jerzy Kowsinski is a good partner to this book, also very Henry Miller-ish. Quite similar in completely different backround.
His work Hunger is near the top of my best books ever read list.
For some reason I've never really connected with any Scandinavian novel and I've read a few. I wonder if it's a language/translation issue.
I read somewhere that Hamsuns sympathy for the Nazis was due to his hatred of America. He had been there for some time and had had a bad experience.
I once went to a lecture on Norwegian where the lecturer explained that there are two main dialects of Norwegian both equally prominent. I asked a question ; what dialect did the playwright Ibsen write in? The answer was, neither of them, he wrote in his plays in Danish! I didn't have time to ask the same question about Hamsun. I would be interested to know.
long and complicated story, so there is no good answer, nor should there be. I would say though that he writes in Norwegian. He wrote during a time of transition which unfortunately has never been completed
A magnificent novel by an equally magnificent author.
Knut Hamsun's Hunger is one of my favorite books.
Col. 3
To be honest, and to side with Hamsun, Tolstoy does suck.
Ever notice how all real writers worth their salt bow down before Dostoyevsky but not Tolstoy?
Tolstoy is garbage for the masses.
Not really, Nabokov is known for disliking Dostoevsky whilst appreciating Tolstoy
I’ve never read Hamsun before and so I think I’ll make this my first one. Cliff, I just finished A Heart So White. I was so intimidated and put it off for more than a year. I trust you and so I finally read it, no, devoured it. My God. As hard as life often is, when I finish a book like AHSW, I thank the Lord that I am alive and blessed enough to read such pages. I am experiencing a book hangover of epic proportions 😢.
Highly recommend The Morning Star by Knausgaard. The pages fly by, the characters are somehow all interesting in their own unique way and the plot works up so much steam I would say it powers the novel had I not also been captivated by the ideas present in the book
I think this is somewhat related, though I can’t make a super strong case for it. I think the best way is in the blunt, seemingly matter of fact prose Hamsun seems to write in but you should read House of Hunger, a novella by Dambudzo Marechera, with some accompanying short stories. He seems to me to be one of the best African writers who wrote about his time as an outcast in both Rhodesia (obviously now Zimbabwe) and his time at Oxford. He was a troubled genius, a bit of a rebel but House of Hunger, for how short it is, is really quite moving. It’s violent, blunt, beautiful, bleak and forlorned. Another amazing writer gone too soon. It’s a quick read but I recommend multiple readings of it. And I have supplementary poetry of another artist, billy woods, that I think adds or at least is in dialogue with this novella in number of ways. Love your stuff, we have similar tastes so I think you’d like it
I don’t have any Proust. I hear him referenced all the time. Was he mentioned in The House that Jack Built? I don’t remember… been buying too many books lately so idk if the hubs will let me get more Satan lit, but I can try.
I agree with your statement on every action being selfish. It just looks different in different people and intentions.
I haven’t read the book, never heard of it or the author, but by the way you talk, is it a possibility our protagonist is ‘on the autism spectrum’?
I should tell you sometime about the time, well weeks, I was high on edibles and went dancing in the street hours at a time.
Great review, still my favorite book. It is a reread kinda thing without a doubt.
It's time for you to review Mann's The Magic Mountain one day soon ^^
great review!
21:26 ...this is irrelevant isn't it 🤣
Henry Miller being my 2nd favorite writer
Markens Grøde is his best work.
Agreed
Monty Python…
13:16 lol
👏👏👏
🍔
Please do ‘The Shards’ by Bret Easton Ellis (I imagine you would be)
Yup it's on the way 👍
This is truth about separating art from the artist, but there is so much art produced by artists who didn't behave like groveling cowards that I think one may pass over this one, who by the way wasn't far from mediocre.
I think he's the poster boy for separating art from the artist. I think his lawyers did try to get him off on insanity when he went on trial after WWII, but they were constantly undermined by Hamsun himself shouting from the sidelines "I'm NOT insane, how dare you good sir." or something like that. Other people try to blame his far right views on his second wife's influence, but that seems like a misogynistic get-out-of-jail-free-card to me; he seems at the very least to be an "ur-fascist" even during his younger days, which probably feeds into some of what you were talking about here.
I've only ever read Hunger (loved it), and wondered what should be my next Hamsun, this was a really interesting video, thank you!
In short he always has been a horrible person
I do not now who Gerry Bothmer is, but Sverre Lyngstad is considered to be a reliable translation of Hamsun. Hamsun is not translated just like that.
Knut was a disciple of Fyodor
Knut Hamsun was based
Not really.